This subject matter relates to an Automatic Well Planning Software System including an advanced probabilistic Monte Carlo algorithm adapted to be stored in a computer system, such as a personal computer, for automatically calculating and generating a time and cost data display, including time and cost data, which is adapted to be illustrated in a window display of a computer system in response to a plurality of activity templates, and for automatically calculating and generating a lognormal distribution display, including time and cost data, adapted to be illustrated in a window display of a computer system in response to a correlation matrix.
The ‘oil well drilling process’ which includes a process for determining the time to drill an oil well, or a gas well or an injection well or a water well, including its associated cost is a manually subjective process that is based heavily on previous personal experience. In addition, an included process for calculating a probabilistic time and cost of a single well is even more complicated, and few users attempt to make these calculations since the method of making these calculations involves preparing self made spreadsheets. The use of self made spreadsheets usually lacks consistency from well-to-well and from user-to-user.
This specification discloses an ‘Automatic Well Planning Software System’ including an advanced probabilistic ‘Automatic Well Planning Monte Carlo Simulation Software’ that represents an automated process adapted for automatically generating and displaying time and cost data associated with oilfield related activities, the display of time and cost data including a numerical display and a graphical display. The ‘Automatic Well Planning Software System’ represents an automatic process for integrating both wellbore construction and planning workflow accounting for process interdependencies. The automated process is based on a drilling simulator, the process representing a highly interactive process which is encompassed in a software system that: (1) allows well construction practices to be tightly linked to geological and geomechanical models, (2) enables asset teams to plan realistic well trajectories by automatically generating cost estimates with a risk assessment, thereby allowing quick screening and economic evaluation of prospects, (3) enables asset teams to quantify the value of additional information by providing insight into the business impact of project uncertainties, (4) reduces the time required for drilling engineers to assess risks and create “probabilistic time and cost estimates” which are faithful to an engineered well design, and (5) permits drilling engineers to immediately assess the business impact and associated risks of applying new technologies, new procedures, or different approaches to a well design. Discussion of these points illustrate the application of the workflow and verify the value, speed, and accuracy of this integrated well planning and decision-support tool.